Are Regular SEO Services Truly Beneficial for Your Business?
If you're aiming to grasp the concept of SEO, it's necessary to first understand Digital Marketing in its entirety, and then make sense of how SEO fits into this big picture. Digital marketing emerged as a rival to traditional forms of marketing such as TV and Print. The rise of Amazon was witnessed alongside the downfall of prominent brands like Sears and Toys R Us. Newspapers and magazines were replaced by platforms like YouTube and Google. Nowadays, people tend to "Facebook" more than they scrapbook. Have you used a phonebook recently? Unlikely, right? Digital marketing has essentially become the preferred method for monetizing your Internet presence, making it absolutely vital for every business owner. It's highly likely that potential customers will stumble upon your website before they step foot in your store or decide to make a purchase.
Amazon may not be the pinnacle of internet achievement, but it surely stands as one of the most notable landmarks. Despite not having a single physical storefront, it is the 7th largest retailer. It surpasses Walmart with its 7th largest market capitalization...and it's still growing.
The pillars of digital marketing are search marketing, social media management, and display advertising; with email marketing also playing a significant role. In 2017, digital marketing budgets overtook TV advertising expenditure for the first time ever; thereby establishing search engines as crucial channels for digital marketing.
Currently, search engines are responsible for nearly 200 billion searches per month (source: SEO.com). By 2019, search engine users in the USA alone are expected to exceed 236 million people. Maintaining an organic online presence is considered top priority for 66% of marketers. It's also known that 72% of people who search for a local store on their mobile phones end up visiting the store. In comparison to the meager 3% of website traffic generated by social media, search engines lead the way, contributing to a lion's share of online-based sales and website visits.
We've thus established that (1) digital marketing trumps TV and other channels in terms of importance. (2) Search engines are the undisputed champions when it comes to digital marketing sales. These facts underscore the importance of search engine marketing as an integral facet of your marketing strategy. Search engine marketing can be divided into two subcategories: sponsored search (PPC), and organic search (SEO). SEO has proven to be more cost-effective than PPC, offering higher ROI when executed correctly.
When you pose the question "is it really worth investing in monthly SEO services?", you should consider what you stand to lose if your business is not indexed by the search engines. The potential benefits are quite significant: only referral-based traffic surpasses search-based traffic. Moreover, search engines present your website to customers who are actively seeking your products/services at their most interested moment. This makes SEO investment a no-brainer from a business perspective. The sheer volume of searches conducted daily guarantees high conversion rates.
Why isn't a single round of SEO sufficient? Why is there a need for a long-term strategy? Well, SEO is more akin to a marathon than a sprint. Websites do not jump from Google's #1000 spot to #1 overnight. It takes time to build trust with search engines like Google, which publicly states that it updates its search algorithm over 500 times per year and uses more than 200 "signals" to rank websites. As these algorithms are constantly changing, maintaining an ongoing SEO strategy becomes imperative. Today's SEO landscape is vastly different from what it was three years ago. A business may not be able to sustain a single round of SEO efforts, but its competitors could. Thus, a one-off SEO campaign is not advisable. This is serious business and your stakes are high. Do you think you can afford to drop the ball on such a powerful marketing tool? Half-hearted attempts at SEO are bound to fail.
Some SEO companies don't quite deliver what they promise. They might exploit their customers or simply lack the necessary skills. While the theory of SEO is sound, the real problem lies with incompetent or dishonest service providers. When shopping for an SEO company, take your time and look for businesses that have proven track records of success. Don't let yourself be swayed by sweet-talking sales representatives. Instead, invest time in vetting the company to ensure that it's competent, honest, and reasonably priced.